


I'm not the hero of this story (please save me)

by Aymaus



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Danny-centric, F/F, Gen, Summer Society
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 03:25:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4591179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aymaus/pseuds/Aymaus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny Lawrence used to know who she was. Now she's not quite sure. She's not sure of anything anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm not the hero of this story (please save me)

She scrambled backwards behind the rocks skinning her knees against the rough unnatural ground. Panting she tried to catch her breathe. The deep guttural roar from behind shook the ground and she curled into a tight ball. The entire cavern quaked with footsteps that were coming closer and closer. There was no where left to hide.

Wiping blood out of her eyes she caught her reflection on the swords blade. She hardly recognised herself: dirty, bloody, and more terrified than she'd ever been in her life. She could barely see straight, her head was throbbing, and the flesh on her arm was in ribbons.

What was she doing here? What the actual _fuck_ had she been thinking?

She was never supposed to be the protagonist of this tale; she was a bit part at best. She wasn't some heroic vampire with super speed and strength armed with a mystical sword of darkness, nor a gifted scientist who could come up with a million and one ways to slay a demigod. She wasn't even some plucky reporter with unending optimism and a plucky determination to never give up. Hell she couldn't even make brownies.

She wasn't anything like that. She was just Danny. That's all she was.

And then she realised. That was it. That explained everything.

Because ultimately where else would Danny Lawrence be at the end of the world but right here? Right in the middle of the fray sword in hand and not a hope in the world.

This was what she did. This was who she was.

She tightened the grip on her sword and stood, ready to face her destiny.

–

Danny was not getting dragged into it again.

Laura's crap.

She was putting her foot down.

She'd spent all last semester running around after Laura and her friends trying to keep them from getting killed and what had she gotten in return? A broken nose, a broken heart, and then, when everything went to hell, left behind.

Laura had disappeared; fled to the mountains and left the university to fend for itself. Without so much as a goodbye.

Danny had been a little bit bitter over that last part.

A call, a text, hell even a stiltedly worded email. Anything. Just a quick heads up to let her know what was going on.

Instead Danny had spend a day and night fighting her way single-handedly across campus because she would feel guilty to get anyone else involved in her personal mess. She'd had to battle her way through the swarms of undead while carefully dodging the ground falling out beneath her feet at random intervals only to face yet another species of semi-sentinent fungus (The Alchemy Club were so dead) to find the 307 dorm room empty. The beds stripped, wardrobe bare, and a suspicious lack of sugary snacks. After a brief panic attack that Laura had been kidnapped, or worse, Danny had gotten a twitter update informing her that Laura had left Silas with her new paramour several hours before.

Great. Just great.

Okay, she had been a lot bitter. So what if Laura hadn't chosen her to ride away into the sunset with? They'd been friends. Or at least Danny had thought they'd been.

How many sleepless nights had Danny spent helping Laura with her class work, or researching leads on the missing girls, or performing last minute rescue missions from the Library? Not to mention risking life and limb in a hopeless last stand against the Dean because newsflash: not everyone was gifted with superpowers and immortality. Some people just had a hastily grabbed axe and their heart in their throats praying they survived the night.

But at the time Danny hadn't given it a second thought. Even if they weren't together they were still friends. And friends were supposed to be there for each other.

In room 307 Danny had been frozen staring at the phone in her hand that detailed Laura's current location until the sound of screams from outside had shaken her from her thoughts. She buried the hollow feeling deep inside her chest where the rest of them lived, cleaned off her axe on Carmilla's pillow, and headed back out into the eerily lit night.

Danny was used to people abandoning her. She should have learnt to expect it by now. It had to stop hurting at some point.

So when she found out via Kirsch that Laura was back on campus (“Yo D-Bear! You're going to Little Nerd Hottie's talk about the Zeta/Summer truce right? 'Cause you're, like, a whole lot less stabby than that Mel chick, not that you aren't stabby, but she's like intense.”) she was surprised by how much it hurt.

It took her a few moments to work out Kirsch's jock speech and then she realised he was talking about Laura. Laura who was back. Had been back for a while now, if her newly uploaded videos were anything indication. Back and playing happy families with the vampire and co. in a nice luxury mansion not even a ten minute walk away. Back and hadn't thought to let Danny know she was still alive.

Great. Just fucking great.

Danny got a text later that afternoon, 'Need help re: Zeta/Summer truce. Faculty House. Bring Kirsch.'

For someone so sweet and caring Laura could be pretty damn oblivious to other people's feelings sometimes.

And if the gym at the Summer Society's Lodge needed a new punching bag fitted after that afternoon Danny was happy to have it deducted from the Outdoor Recreations Budget once this had all calmed down. Assuming there was a Summer Society or a Lodge still standing after this all calmed down.

Danny, after putting up a new punching bag and ignoring a series of pitying glances from the other girls, had swallowed her feelings and attended the meeting like Laura had asked. Because if Danny was anything, it was reliable. It didn't matter how much she didn't want to do something she would always be there; first into the fray and only leaving once the job was done.

Plus leaving Mel alone in a room with the Zetas and Laura was just a recipe for tears. Or blood shed. Most likely both.

Now that she was here in Laura's sitting room Danny was finding it hard to care about whatever it was they were arguing about. This was supposed to be the peace treaty she'd been trying to hash out with the Zetas over the last two weeks but these 'peace talks' obviously were going nowhere and she had other things to worry about. There were freshman girls who had just found out their worst nightmares were true that needed support, plus a group of more senior girls Danny was supposed to lead on patrol again this evening, not to mention a whole campus of terrified, defenceless students to protect. She couldn't remember a time when she'd been so exhausted and she was just about done with the territorial pissing match Mel was having with the Zeta's Head Bro or whatever he was called.

She was also done with Kirsch's blatantly obvious attempts at flirting which frankly she'd be very patient with so far. And with being in the same room as an unhelpful apathetic vampire who obviously didn't give two shits what happened to anyone who wasn't Laura (no matter how much her tiny girlfriend protested otherwise).

The final straw was when Laura accused them all of being petty warlords. Danny tasted blood in her mouth as she bit her tongue. She stared hard at her feet and tried not to clench her fists. Because as much as she hated Mel's attitude in recent weeks and even given her own unending loathing towards the misogynistic assholes of Zeta Omega Mu, at least they had stayed. Despite their whining and arguing and increasingly violent turf wars when the chips were down and the ground opened up beneath them they had stayed.

But apparently that didn't matter.

Because the real hero, the one who truly cared about the well-being of the students of Silas, was lounging in the corner sipping a smoothie happily free from bruises caused by collapsing rumble, or scars from harpy attacks, or nightmares of ancient evils devouring them from below.

Again not that Danny was bitter about the whole thing.

She didn't want to say anything she'd regret so just to get it over with she agreed to play ambassador with Kirsch but that was it. She drew the line here. Danny was done.

She was not getting involved in anymore of Laura's crap.

She went back to the Lodge and spent the next few days working out her issues trying to get the armoury under some sort of control. There was something soothing about being surrounded by her sisters and grinding metal using a whet stone (as well as coldly calculating the punishment for whoever hadn't been cleaning the viscous goo off their weapons. They would be praying for another attack of gamma irradiated geckos after Danny got her hands on them).

It was taking a lot longer than she thought it would. She was in the middle of sharpening her favourite sword when her phone bleeped.

Danny tried to ignore it. She went back fixing the sword silently cursing how quickly gecko spit could corrode metal and wondering if it could be weaponised somehow. Beside her Elsie was bickering with Natalie over who was in charge of the Patrol tonight since Danny had been asked (ordered) to take a break this evening. Which wasn't helping her foul mood in the slightest. The group of protesters surrounding the pit were beginning to attract large enough numbers that it was becoming a health and safety hazard. Plus it was majorly creepy the way they had all started talking in unison and earlier they'd tried to push in one of the Alchemy Nerds who was collecting rock samples. Danny wasn't totally up to date with 'Intro To Eldritch Abominations 101', which she's only taken in first year because it was a prerequisite, but she was pretty sure blood sacrifices and ancient Sumerian demigods were a bad mix. In fact blood sacrifices and gods in general didn't bode well.

Anyway these weapons needed to be fixed before nightfall for the patrol so she went back to work.

Her phone beeped at her again unhappy at being ignored. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breathe.

She was not getting involved. She set the sword down and unlocked her phone.

This was Danny not getting involved.

'Need assistance. Board Chair up to something. Linked to VOS murders?'

Danny was pretty amazed sometimes at how much she believed her own lies.

–

If anyone had asked her a few months ago who she was Danny would've been able to tell them without hesitation.

She was Danny Lawrence. VP of Outdoor Recreations at the Summer Society, winner of the Adonis Festival two years running, and a shoe in for President next year. She was a track and field star who placed first time and again at Varsity. A tactical lacrosse captain with a flair for coaching younger players into a cohesive team set to take the cup this year for the first time in Silas history. She was an inspiring Lit. TA maintaining a 4.0 GPA on an academic scholarship set to graduate next year _summa cum laude_. And a 'maybe-something-more-than-friends' with the cute journalism major in her '19 th century literature' seminar group that she was definitely going to pursue once the semester was over.

If anyone asked her that question today she wouldn't be able to answer.

All athletic events were suspended until the infestation of mutant squirrels was sorted out. Lacrosse practice had been substituted with regular battle drills and weapons training. The majority of her seminar group had either fled the country, been brainwashed by a giant fish god, and/or transported to alternate time streams. Her grades were still good but she wasn't sure there'd be a University left standing to issue her degree. And the 'maybe-something-more' thing with Laura had become an 'are-we-even/were-we-even-friends' thing.

She was still a loyal sister of the Summer Society that hadn't changed. But where once she led others with confidence now she was uncertain.

In those crazy days after the pit opened, when the entire campus seemed to be in flames and people needed to be protecting, Danny had stepped up to the plate. She didn't run. She didn't hide. She stood strong and lead the charge. Because if there was one thing Danny was good at it was protecting people. Even those who didn't want it.

She'd beat back zombies while dragging Zeta's kicking and screaming away from their illegal distillery when it was attacked by the now actually undead cast of Antigone. She'd yelled until she was blue in the face at the Alchemy nerds to get to cover as the harpies rounded for another attack. It turned out that although the evil Angler Fish monster demigod might have been stuck in a hole unable to eat them for now, its strange glowing light was attracting all manner of weirdness to the campus. Even more weirdness than a seasoned (and therefore well armed) student of Silas University could prepare for.

But that hadn't bothered Danny.

She helped to lead the Summer Society's attempts to protect the campus. Organising Search and Rescue teams to save students who'd fallen into sink holes and volunteering for the Emergency Medical Response teams to patch up the injured. Everyone had to pull their weight seeing as any and all 'official' help ended when the remaining Faculty went into hiding and barricaded themselves in the ivory towers of the staff lounges. The students on the ground were left to fend for themselves. After a few days of chaos and when they'd finally rescued the injured from the debris they'd tried to make a retreat but the snow from the freakishly intense storms had blocked the mountain passes. Instead the Summer Society, along with the Zetas and the Alchemy Club in an unprecedented show of school solidarity, had set up makeshift dorms in the gymnasium, boarded up the windows, and somehow managed to survive the winter.

It had been the most awful winter break imaginable; cold and miserable with little food or supplies and frequent monster attacks. After they suspended their 'Sleep with a Summer' campaign the Zeta's were nearly decent human beings and their ability to create alcohol from anything helped to keep people sane during those dark days. The Glee Club contributed too keeping the festive spirits alive with some of their less ominous Gregorian Chants. In true holiday spirit she'd even managed a small heart to heart with Kirsch, in one of the few moments he wasn't hitting on her, after he got a bit tearful about how this was the first time he hadn't spent Christmas with his bros ever (his actual brothers, who always picked on him but whom he loved and missed, “ _Danny, please tell me I'll see them again..."_ )

It hadn't actually ranked too badly on the 'Crappy Christmases of Danny Lawrence' list so she'd let Kirsch cry on her shoulder and drank bootleg liquor with him until they both passed out.

Finally though the attacks decreased in their frequency and the storms of unnatural intensity and purple lightning passed. The last of the blizzards had killed most of the exploding spores (to the great dismay of the Alchemy Club) so the faculty dismantled their barricades returning some authority to the campus and the mountain passes cleared so supplies could return. Things weren't back to normal yet. Not by a long shot but the immediate danger had passed. The Zeta's returned to being Frat boys whose only priorities were partying and boobs, the Alchemy club descended back to their labs, ominous chanting in dead languages returned to the hallways, and classes resumed. Well most of them did. After all this was Silas University. These things just tended to happen.

And Danny's sense of purpose had left.

After everything that happened over the last few months becoming president of the Summer Society just didn't seem worth the effort anymore. What real difference would it make now? Mel, a well respected Sister although too hot headed to really be a good leader, had sensed Danny's new hesitance and picked up the slack. The other girls still tended to look to Danny first but she wasn't sure what to say anymore. Instead she felt tired for the first time in a long while; a deep down bone weariness she hadn't felt since she'd packed everything she owned into a small bag and moved half way across the world without looking back.

She'd loved it here when she started. For the first time she'd found a place where she not only fit in but was welcomed. Here no one made fun of Danny's height, or her competitive nature, or the deep anger that consumed her some days. Here those traits were welcome. Sure Silas University had its oddities; the occasional ritualistic sacrifice of animals, strange blood rites under full moons, and the Library. But Danny had known something was up since the first day she set foot on campus and had to save her room-mate from a bridge troll. Danny hadn't cared. She'd managed to take down the troll with a pair of scissors and some packing tape. Her room-mate had transferred the next day. Silas wasn't for everyone.

Normal people tended to avoid the University and its surrounding area. The locals never visited and even most of the staff were from different countries. There was just something about it that even in the afternoon on a bright summers day that gave them chills. At least half of every tour group Danny had ever escorted had left early citing dizzy spells, nausea, and disembodied voices in their heads as excuses. Normal people didn't like Silas; it attracted the strange, the weird, and the outcast.

She'd been a bit surprised when she first meet Laura by how normal the younger girl seemed. Laura was the embodiment of the girl next door; the adorable well meaning type of person the world would eventually grind up and spit it. Maybe that's why Danny had felt so desperate to protect her and why she, who'd always been so careful with her feelings before, had fallen so hard so fast. Laura's innocence was what had first attracted Danny but as they grew closer it was her passion, her intelligence and her unerring sense of justice that made Danny fall in love with her.

In hindsight it wasn't that surprising that Laura had fit right in at Silas University. Normal people didn't even care that much to stick their neck for their own family and friends. But Laura had risked her life going toe to toe with a master vampire and a Sumerian deity for people she didn't even know. And now Laura was on another crusade; this time to bring justice to the fallen students of the Voice. Laura was back in her element with her camera and investigative sleuthing skills. It seemed Laura had truly found her calling here at Silas.

Danny could barely remember that feeling.

As she made her way across the campus, taking care to avoid the SWAT guys with the Corvae Corps logo emblazoned on their chests, Danny's path had taken her by chance past the faculty building Laura and company had claimed as their own. Ducking out of the way of a flock of carrion birds Danny stood for a minute. Her eyes settled on the house she wasn't welcome in, filled with people who weren't her friends, and a girl who didn't need her.

For the first time since she'd started Silas University Danny felt like she didn't belong.

–

So to reiterate: Danny was not getting involved.

She'd only turned up to the Dean's house (the DEAN'S house? Seriously what the hell Laura?) because the Board of Governors were pulling the funding for the Adonis Hunt and Theo, Head Zeta Bro, had seen the Board Chair going there. She was not here because of Laura's quest to meet a grisly end investigating the mysteries of Silas. She was not getting involved in that.

Then one week, a mad bid for power from Mel, and a failed Adonis Hunt later she was volunteering to join the Silas University Board of Governors as the Honourary Student Representative.

Because Laura (damn her) was right; something evil going on and someone needed to stop it.

And who would be stupid enough to do that?

As if she didn't have enough to worry about now

–

The Adonis Hunt was a long held tradition at Silas and one of the biggest events of the university's calendar despite its controversial nature. Some of the older girls would wind up the freshmen with tales of actual human sacrifice but from what Danny could figure out from reading the dusty old books kept in the Lodge's Attic that was a long time ago. There was a lot in there about the origins of the Hunt as a religious event with an offering to some forest goddess, who was the Society's patron, but for the past 50 years or more the Hunt was an actual stag.

And she'd caught it.

A pledge had never won the Hunt before. Normally they barely made it out of the forest without getting lost or stuck in a pit trap. For Danny to actually catch it was historic.

She remembered the exact moment she'd spotted it. She'd been tracking its prints through the underbrush for hours but for such a large animal it barely left a trail. She'd stopped for a second beside a frozen brook to rest when it had passed across the path ahead of her. It was massive; far larger than any stag she'd seen before even though she had rarely come this close to a wild animal. It moved with an ethereal grace, almost ghost like, through the frost covered woods.

She'd been struck dumb by its majesty. It was breathtakingly beautiful. It moved with purpose and dignity. Then she remembered her bow in her hands. Slowly, silently she pulled back an arrow feeling the reassuring tension in the string as the nock rested against her cheek. She took a breathe and aimed.

The stag raised its head and spotted her. It went to move.

In the space between heartbeats she let go of the arrow. It flew true.

All day after had been a celebration. There was a clearing deep in the forest that the Summer Society often used for camp outs that had been set up for the festival. When she'd arrived back carrying the stag over her shoulder she'd been meet with energetic cheers. Flowers had been woven in her hair and warpaint smeared across her cheeks. A goofy looking hunting horn had been attached to her belt along with an intricately engraved and razor sharp dagger. Danny had been patted on the back more times than she could count and stood a little embarrassed while Sara, the then Summer Society President, had congratulated her on being the first Pledge to ever catch the Stag. She hoped her face wasn't too red as Sara emphasised how impressive a feat it was and that the Summer Society would be expecting great things from her in the future.

After the ceremonial stuff was all over Danny felt a lot more comfortable. She'd handed the stag off to some of the older girls and helped to light the firepit. By the early evening the food was ready and she had the place of honour at the table. It was a little overwhelming but the other members of the Summer Society put her at ease regaling her with retellings of previous hunts and Society adventures. As the night drew on there was too much food and wine and Danny had smiled until her face hurt.

For the first time in a long time Danny felt at home.

After dinner the real party began. One of the other pledges owned an amazing sound system and an intense girl called Mel had awesome taste in music so it wasn't long before a playlist was quickly set up and music was now blaring in the forest. Around her girls were dancing and drinking around the fire and Danny could feel the music flowing through her.

Around midnight Danny took a break from the party and sat down on a log beside the bonfire, sleepy but content. She felt at such peace here in the woods. Although that might've had something to do with the mead she'd been drinking all night. According to Sara it was some old traditional recipe reserved for special occasions. It was cloyingly sweet and deceptively intoxicating.

Danny was pretty sure she had a stupid grin on her face and she could feel herself drifting off when through the flames she noticed a young woman staring intently at her. The smoke burned her eyes as she squinted trying to place her but Danny didn't recognise her. She was possibly one of the older sisters she hadn't met yet; a lot of the members who were off on exchange programs or who had recently graduated came back at this time of year for the Hunt so Danny wasn't that surprised she hadn't seen her before.

She smiled at the other woman and lifted her drink in salute. The woman merely raised an eyebrow in response and then glanced towards the forest. She stood up and looked back at Danny, deliberately catching her eye, before turning away towards the forest.

She might be a bit buzzed but even Danny could take a hint so she drained the last of her cup and staggered to her feet following the stranger.

Upon leaving the clearing the cold wind was biting and Danny shivered. The woman seemed to know where she was going even though Danny couldn't make out a path so Danny followed. The woman was absolutely silent as she moved through the branches while Danny fell behind a little trying to copy her crashing through the undergrowth. After a short time they stopped in a small glade lit by the waning moon and Danny finally saw the woman clearly. She was tall, not as tall as Danny, but taller than average with jet black hair and dark eyes that seemed to pierce the night keenly. She was also wearing a light white dress that was completely inappropriate for a jaunt through the Austrian woods at the end of winter.

“Are you cold? Here take my jacket,” she offered struggling to pull an arm from its sleeve. It proved more difficult that she anticipated. Okay, so maybe she'd had more to drink than she'd realised. A hand on her shoulder stilled her movements.

“You're the Huntress who won the Adonis Hunt.”

Danny stilled and her chest swelled with pride. She was sure that goofy grin was back on her face but she couldn't wipe it off. She didn't know why but it seemed important to her that this woman had recognised her. This enchantingly beautiful woman with bewitching moonlight in her hair and perfect skin and oh god Danny couldn't stop staring at her.

Focus, Danny. Focus.

“Yeah, that was me.”

The woman considered her for a second, “You've accomplished a great many things to get here.”

“Well, maybe. Yeah. I guess,” Smooth Lawrence. She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, “I sort of just got lucky today. Right place at the right time. I mean I do practice at lot at the archery range and I've explored the forest since I got here so I know it pretty well -”

“That's not what I mean,” The woman reached forward interrupting her (when did she get that close?) and grasped her hand.

One instant Danny was standing in the middle of forest on a winters night with her friends at her back, warpaint on her face, and a beautiful woman standing in front of her.

Then she wasn't

For a second she was small and scared, staring up in terror at a man she hadn't seen in years towering over her. His breath reeked of alcohol as he yelled and she flinched as a bottle smashed against the wall but she still refused get out of his way. Never. Not when her siblings were so much smaller behind her and neither they nor her mother had done anything to deserve this. She didn't move as he came closer, instead she brought her tiny hands up into fists.

For a second she's being pushed back into a hard stone wall. Her nose was streaming blood and she was winded but she wasn't going down. She's not about to give up and let these assholes who don't understand that 'no means no' go back to harassing the girl a few feet away. The girl has tears streaming down her face and finger shaped bruises on her arm. Danny wiped the blood off her face and lunged forward.

For a second she was trying not to cry. Her eyes were burning but she refuses to give them the satisfaction, as she shoved her clothes into a small backpack. She tried to ignore the looks of disgust being sent her way but they hurt more than she imagined possible. She grabbed the backpack and left the house. The door was slammed shut behind her.

Then she was back in the forest with echoes of a slamming door still ringing in her ears. The coolness of the night, which hadn't bothered her much before, was suddenly biting and she unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself. The buzz from earlier was gone and Danny felt very much alone. She felt the woman step closer to her and put a hand under her chin pushing it up. She hadn't realised she had been staring at the ground.

“You've come very far. But there is much further to go.”

The woman moved her hand until it was warm against Danny's cheek. Danny found it difficult to meet her dark gaze; there was something there, something old, and powerful, and far too knowing. Danny felt very, very small. Just as she was about to lower her gaze again the woman leaned up to press a soft kiss to Danny's cheek. It burned sharply where her lips touched.

“A great many things will be expected of you, Danny Lawrence,” she heard whispered in her ear.

The woman drew back and walked slowly away in the opposite direction from where they had come, going deeper into the woods. The moonlight didn't seem as bright now and soon the woman was lost to the darkness.

Danny stood there in the cold shivering yet still burning from where the woman had touched her. She waited for a long time until she heard someone calling her name and then she headed back towards the fire.

–

Honestly she preferred it better last week when Mel was glaring daggers at her and plotting to usurp her instead of shooting her pitying glances. As if this whole freaking mess wasn't her fault to begin with. At least last week she didn't have to waste so much time skirting the Zeta half the campus to avoid Kirsch's unending hero worship and his “D-Bear, you saved me. Total Bros for life!” speeches. The flirting had stepped up after her latest successful attempt at saving his life and was getting worse by the day. Kirsch wasn't a bad guy, Laura was convinced he had a good heart in there somewhere, but dear god he was dense and wasn't picking up on her disinterest.

Also last week she had spent her afternoons running tactical drills with the Lacrosse team (they were adapting their flanking strategy to deal with two headed monsters after the thing from the Experimental Bio. lab escaped) not trying to work out the most effective method of suicide by pencil. Her afternoons were now spent listening to the Board Chair's latest presentation on austerity savings; Danny wondered if Belmonde's master plan was actually to bore them into oblivion because god help them it was proving an effective strategy.

But most of all she preferred it better last week because then the strange ache in her head would go away.

She took her eyes off the page and flexed her hand stretching it out. She'd cut it last week when she'd grabbed Mel's arrow to stop Kirsch becoming a shish kebab but that was nothing compared to the pounding in her head. It never seemed to go away no matter how many Tylenol she popped and its dull throb seemed to be worsening with time. As were the strange shadows she kept seeing out of the corner of her eye but she was not going to think about them. Trying to overthrow the Board Chair who just happens to be a centuries old vampires was one thing seeing things others can't? Even at Silas that was bad.

Danny set the book down. She hadn't really taken in any information from the large tome (who the hell had tome's lying about anyway?) for the last hour. She was tired, sore, and her stomach was slightly queasy from the disturbing amount of cupcakes and coffee that Laura assured her were part of a healthy diet. She wondered idly if Laura's dad knew about his daughter's eating habits but Danny kept her mouth firmly shut. Taking care of Laura wasn't her job.

That would be over stepping her bounds and she (and half the campus thanks to that stupid video) still recalled quite clearly that Laura didn't need another dad.

Danny stood up and cracked her neck. Everything was sore both from hours sitting on fancy and incredibly uncomfortable furniture and from trying to elude the Corvea corps goons trying to take samples of her hair and blood. That was a brand of Silas weird even Danny wasn't comfortable with. She had had to climb up the fire escape behind the Robespierre building with a terrified Alt. History Professor clinging to her back just to escape them and now her shoulders were killing her. After stretching out the kinks she wandered over to the table where Laura was.

Laura had been groaning intermittently ever since she'd collapsed on her laptop twenty minutes ago. She seemed to have given up reading and was hoping the information would transmit itself by osmosis into her skull. At least that's what Danny assumed she was doing. Danny smiled softly down at Laura who was now gently banging her head on the keyboard. Beside her on the desk lay a sheet covered in LaFontaine's scrawl and JP's very scripted handwriting that drew Danny's attention.

Now satisfied that JP had been saved the duo had turned their attention back to the Angler Fish God or Lophii as it preferred to be called if its followers were to be believed. Without the Library they were at a bit of a loss. Danny had never been the Library's biggest fan (an entire section dedicated to lesser summoning rituals for minor demon lords yet no catalogue for modern feminist literature was a sore spot with her) but despite the dangers of staying after nightfall and the dreaded possibility of coming across a Librarian it was an indispensable source of knowledge.

Luckily JP was a veritable font of information and was trying to wreck his memories to come up with anything that would be of help. From what Danny could remember from her trips under the Lustig building there were some strange tunnels that lead to a cave network. But JP's carefully annotated map seemed to show an even deeper and even stranger cavern below probably were the Angler Fish god had been snoozing before trying to rise up and getting stuck. From the sketches it looked like JP's memories had been scrambled with some of Will's residual bad taste in horror movies. The drawings were filled with strange sigils, oddly shaped altars, and vaguely humanoid drawings depicting what appeared to be human sacrifice. Awesome. But given the lack of alternative options this was the best they had.

“Laura,” Danny chided softly, “If you keep that up you won't have any brain cells left soon.”

“Urgh,” Laura groaned pushing back into her chair and gesturing violently in the air, “I know she's up to something. I just know it! But it's hidden somewhere under all this legal mumbo jumbo. Why can't evil just be straight forward and gloaty like it's supposed to be?”

“Because then we wouldn't be having all this fun researching,” Danny replied wryly

That got a grin from Laura which Danny couldn't help but return. Laura's smiles were infectious. She lit up the room with them. Pushing aside the scattered papers and cookie crumbs Laura finally snapped her laptop shut and turned to face Danny. She looked her up and down. Danny felt a bit uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

“You look tired Danny.”

Shuffling a bit Danny looked away. This was rapidly approaching the sort of conversation Danny was very much not getting involved with anymore.

“It's nothing. I haven't slept much since joining the board.”

“That's not what I mean.”

Laura could be frighteningly perceptive when she put her mind to it. Danny wasn't very good at hiding things; she never had been. She'd been quieter than normal for a few weeks now and she'd given up trying to hid the bags under her eyes weeks ago. But she'd at least thought she was managing to put a brave face while trying to hide the gaping hole in her chest. The one normal people filled with family and friends and life which had been getting bigger by the day. She obviously wasn't doing such a great job if the sad look on Laura's face was any indication.

Laura got up out of her chair standing on her tiptoes to reach and push a lock of hair behind Danny's ear. The soft light in the room illuminated Laura's face and Danny forgot how to breathe. Danny wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and stay frozen in this moment forever.

But the aching hole in her chest was still there reminding her that despite everything; things hadn't worked out. And she finds that soft look in Laura's eyes too much to take. Laura's everything she always wanted but no matter how hard she tried Danny wasn't what Laura wanted, or even what she needed.

And if Danny's honest with herself she doesn't think she ever could be.

Danny took a step back and looked at clock, “I better get back to the Lodge; the Board wants an early morning summit about permits for the Fish Protesters and I need to get some rest.”

Trying her best not to look at Laura she walked back over to the couch and started to pack her bag.

“You could always crash here.”

Danny smiled weakly turning back around. Laura definitely didn't make things easy, “It's all right Laura, seriously. I need to change and pick up some stuff anyways. I'll see you tomorrow okay?”

Laura stared at her for a second concerned etched all over her face and Danny thought she was about to argue with her. But she didn't. Instead there was that smile again, “Sure thing, see you tomorrow Danny. Stay safe.”

Laura picked up some glasses and moved away into the kitchen. Danny grabbed her jacket throwing it on as she left the room.

She was trying her best not to look back so she wasn't paying attention at all when she literally bumped into Carmilla. She jumped. Carmilla smirked.

“Karnstein.”

“Xena.”

Waiting in the entrance hall Carmilla was dressed for a night out on the town with skin tight top, leather pants, and the faint scent of cigarette smoke. But Danny couldn't shake the feeling she'd been lurking here a while. Carmilla was leaning nonchalantly against the wall blocking Danny's exit and watching her like a cat watches its prey. Danny tried her best not to shudder. She forgot sometimes that Carmilla could just kill her without even batting an eyelid. Carmilla could seem so small and fragile sometimes.

Danny remembered the sound of the heart wrenching sobs Carmilla had made before jumping into the light and she could still feel the awful stillness of a small non-moving body in her arms from when she'd carried Carmilla back to Laura. Sometimes in her nightmares Danny could still feel Carmilla dead in her arms.

It made it difficult to look at her now and remember the monster that she could be.

They stood in a terse silence until a noise came from the next room; sounds of a table being knocked into and a muffled curse. Carmilla broke their staring contest and looked toward the room her face taking on a wistful expression. Danny unfroze and she stepped towards the door.

Carmilla let her pass. Danny felt her stare burning into the back of her neck as she hurried down the steps and into the night.

–

Danny could barely keep her eyes open.

Sleepless nights were something she was used to. When she was younger it was due to slamming doors, smashed bottles, or raised voices. Then when she had got to Silas the causes were essays that needed grading, Summer Society events that needed planning and finals that needed studying for. Last semester she had got to add Laura to the list. Whether it was fear that Laura had gotten herself kidnapped or eaten by her vampire room mate, or because she was wallowing in grief after having her heart ripped out and stomped on it on camera, or from worry that Laura wasn't taking care of herself after the death of said vampire room mate. Sleepless nights were just something she was used to now.

Then the 'Worst Winter Break Ever' of constant terror and exhaustion had done wonders for Danny's strictly established routine. She remembered being so tired at one point she'd fallen asleep standing up while leaning against the wall of the Lodge. It was then that Natalie had realised that Danny had been awake for 48 hours straight and was still volunteering for every job that needed doing. Danny had be unanimously ordered to bed at once.

She'd tried to protest, chain of command and all that, but she'd be manhandled roughly into her room. Apparently her protests lacked authority when she had nodded off to sleep mid-rant. Danny had managed half a night's rest before the shrieking from outside had woken her up and she'd grabbed her bow to head up to the battlements again.

So lack of availability and mental/physical exhaustion Danny was used to. She'd never had problem with being asleep itself.

But now every time she closed her eyes she was in hell.

She'd been trying to stay awake. Coffee had stopped being effective some time last week so now she was just drinking it to maintain an equilibrium state of half alertness. Also she was becoming tolerant to the weird tablets she'd confiscated off some of the younger sisters earlier this semester (the Alchemy Club were giving them out as 'study aids'). She tried to only use them the nights when she was out patrolling and she needed to be on her 'A' game but recently she'd been taking them like candy. She barely felt alive anymore; constantly stuck somewhere between the waking world and that of sleep.

But she would do anything to not fall asleep again.

Danny'd hidden herself in her room. After that weird episode with Carmilla in the hall she wasn't not keen on heading back to the Dean's house without good reason but she couldn't take the looks from the other girls anymore.

Danny knew what she was doing when she stopped the hunt. Well okay, so she didn't know exactly what the consequences would be but she had a good idea that whatever it was it was serious and it was bad. Even before she'd entered the forest that day something had felt off. Maybe it was the glint in Mel's eyes or the strange quiet that lay over the other girls but something just wasn't right. She'd been surprised to find the Hunt had already begun before she'd arrived (normally it didn't start until midday) and even more surprised to find that a lot of girls didn't seem that excited about it. Danny had been about to question them when she'd heard the screams. High pitched human man-child screams.

Immediately she'd known what Mel had done.

She'd also immediately known where Kirsch would go for safety. She just prayed she'd get there first. Danny had spurred herself forward (just because the running track was a desolate wasteland didn't mean she was slacking off) and tried to get to the Dean's house before the Hunt did. But she knew it was too late. Something deep inside her, some intuition or instinct she'd never known before, told her that it was already too late for this all to end well.

She stopped the Hunt.

No one had done that before. Ever. But there was no way in hell Danny Lawrence was going to step aside and let an innocent person be murdered. Stupid Zeta Frat boy or not; Kirsch was a person, not some ceremonial sacrifice. It didn't matter how much Mel screamed at her she wasn't going to let Kirsch be turned into a scapegoat for all the cruelties men enacted against women. So what if he was oblivious, crude and dumber than a box of rocks? He'd shown a potential to learn many didn't, and he stood by his friends, and even after being betrayed he saw the best in everyone. He didn't deserve to die.

No. Danny wasn't going to allow someone like that to be hurt. Not on her watch.

But once the Hunt was under way nothing could stop it truly. Danny didn't know much about the old gods (she was Lit. major, not Esoteric Theology) but she knew enough to about blood offerings to know that even patron goddesses of protection demanded their sacrifices. She wouldn't like being denied and now Danny was in limbo waiting for the consequences.

Ever since then the other girls are walking on eggshells around her. Elsie kept making her cups of tea and asking her if she wanted to talk. And she knew Natalie had been stocking the cupboard with her favourite foods and making her favourite meals despite the communal calender. When they had tried to switch her off patrol last night she'd lost it. There might had been some harsh words bandied about. Unfair things had been said. Lot's of yelling. Perhaps a thrown javelin or two.

So today it had been whispers and worried glances. Hushed silences when she entered a room that turned to murmurs when she left. Danny couldn't take it anymore. Without sleep her temper was shorter than ever and, even if they were getting on her last nerve, the girls were just trying to help. They didn't deserve her ire. She grabbed her back and headed upstairs to try to find something, anything, they could use against Belmonde before she exploded again.

The budget reports in front of her could've be written in Sumerian for all she knew (actually maybe they were...) because she couldn't make heads or tails of it. The figures and tablets blurred before her eyes and Danny was certain she'd read the same paragraph three times now. She just wasn't getting any of it. Her eyes keep drifting, they so heavy, and if she just rested them for just a second then she could focus. And then...

_She's alone on a vast plateau._

_Wide plains of stone extend in all directions and she can't see where the horizon ends. Queerly shaped rocks and ruins scatter the landscape. Overhead a deep blood moon hangs low and full in the sky._

_The air is dry and stale. Like a crypt._

_Everything is bathed in red._

_Danny's been here before. She knows it in her bones. Her heart clenches. She knows how this will all play out but she can't stop herself from taking part._

_She's not alone. She can't see anything but she knows it's out there. Something skirting the periphery of her vision. Watching her. Hunting her._

_A rock cracks behind her and she starts to run. She sprints as fast as her legs will go. Danny is fast; she's always been fast. Long legs, deep lungs and strong muscles combining in an unbeatable speed that has always enabled her to outrun her fears. But it's no use. She can hear something behind her. Something big and dark. It's gaining on her. She can feel its hot breath on her neck._

_It's behind her._

_Suddenly without realising it she's skidding to a stop at the top of a deep hole in the ground. She tries to stop herself but she's going too fast and she stumbles over the edge. The rocks are jagged and rough; they cut through her skin like glass as she tumbles. Finally she collapses in a heap at the bottom. She looks up and sees the shadow of the beast silhouetted against the lip of the chasm, shifting and changing before her eyes, before it vanishes._

_She always notices the smell first. It makes her wretch. Decay and death. She tries to grab her mouth and nose to block it but the stench seeps through and makes her eyes water. She staggers to her feet and feels something crack and squish under her bare foot._

_The chasm is filled with bodies._

_Danny stumbles backwards in horror but looses her footing on the slippery ground and she's falling. She lands roughly on the uneven ground and turns her head to the side. Mel's dead eyes stare back at her._

_She yelps and scrambles up again. Her hands keep loosing purchase slipping through the blood and decaying flesh littering the ground. The smell is making her mind reel and she tries to find a way out. But all around her are bodies. People she recognises. Many she doesn't. They're students. Faculty. She can see some of the younger Summer Society sisters, ones she had been taking for archery practice yesterday, strewn in a pile. Their limbs are bent at unnatural angles and something has carved symbols into their eyes. A few feet away beside Mel's body lies Theo's with an arrow through his chest._

_She tries to get away from them. She stumbles forward; something is drawing her towards the centre of the pit but she can't stop herself. She has to see. She has to know._

_JP lies collapsed a few feet in front of Perry and LaFontaine as if he had been trying to protect them. She can't see his front but his back is bare and carved with strange glyphs. A silvery pool of blood seeps out around him. The air around here is metallic and sharp. It leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. Perry and LaFontaine look so peaceful they could be sleeping._

_But she knows what's worse is still to come. She is pulled forward._

_She's seen Carmilla like this before. She remembers another pit, another body. Carmilla is lying still and quiet with a trail of dried blood running from her mouth. Danny feels the bile rise up in her throat and this time she can't stop herself. When she recovers she realises there's a gaping wound in Carmilla's chest; right over her heart. Or where her heart would've been if hadn't been ripped it out._

_Lying cradled in her arms, white blouse stained dark black with Carmilla's blood, is Laura._

_Danny crouches down. Laura's head is an odd angle and her glassy eyes seem to look straight in her. She's never seen them look so empty. Or accusing._

_Danny reels back. She clutches her chest. She can't breath._

_No. Not her. Anyone but her. Not Laura._

_Behind her she hears a howl. It is a deep and terrible sound that shakes the ground beneath her. The prowling beast is at the bottom of the chasm; its eyes burn in the darkness watching her. It rears back and screeches. It rushes towards her._

_She tries to raise her hands up to defend herself. But it's no use._

_The dark shape barrels forward. The wind rushes in her ears and blinds her eyes. She feels it looming over her._

_Great. Terrible. Pitiless._

Danny woke up.

She fell backwards off her chair and hit the ground hard. The books she'd fallen asleep over rained down upon her but she didn't notice them.

She couldn't breathe. Her head was splitting. Her chest felt like it was on fire. Tears were streaming down her face and she couldn't stop them. She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes and tried to control her breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

Finally she managed to calm herself enough to stop hyperventilating but it took much longer to stop the shaking.

She didn't fall sleep again that night.

–

JP's plan was brilliant. Finally they'd be able to use that damn Charter, which Danny had considered torching on more than one occasion, against the Establishment. A trial by conflict. A verbal sparring match. That was a fight they might actually win. Maybe she'd have to concede to LaFontaine later that they'd had the right idea bringing JP back. Maybe. When this was over perhaps.

The next few days were a blur to Danny; she'd barely left the Dean's house or had time to catch her breathe as they tried to ready the Baron for his big battle. Her memories were a hasty montage of rehearsing debate strategies and trying to keep Vordenberg from wandering off topic while ignoring Carmilla's snarking and Perry's barely concealed breakdowns.

(Perry really wasn't coping with this at all.)

Tensions were high the whole time. Neither Carmilla nor Laura were taking their break up well. Carmilla had returned to her destructive tendencies and was revelling at rubbing it in Laura's face while Laura taken to goading the vampire at every opportunity and throwing herself head first into debate prep. Danny'd had to physically drag her away from her laptop on more than one occasion to take a shower or eat.

She was trying to be a there for Laura during it all but Danny was also happy to stay well out of the blast zone as their epic romance imploded. Sometimes it paid off to be the impartial observer Danny thought as she took note on how dysfunctional the whole group was becoming. When she saw how broken and frayed the relationships in the house were becoming she was glad to be the outsider; it was a lot harder to get hurt when there were no personal stakes involved.

Thankfully though after (A LOT) of coaching and some non-subtle coughing to keep the Baron on track it was over. They'd won. The evil Board Chair was overthrown and Silas was safe once again.

Well, sort of.

They won by underhand tactics. The evil Board Chair was overthrown and fled screeching into the night. But Silas wasn't safe quite yet.

Unsurprisingly in her zeal Laura hadn't stopped to consider that the Baron (the one who's entire family lineage had nearly been wiped out by Carmilla and was a self-professed vampire hunter) might want some revenge against his ancestor's unrepentant killer. Oops. Bit of an oversight on their part.

If anyone ever asked her Danny would profess to support Laura's whole 'Everyone deserves a second chance even vampires' spiel. But after Carmilla's latest spree deflowering and feeding off unsuspecting freshmen and the until just now Board Chair's plans to sell off their livers Danny was finding it really hard to give a crap. Carmilla might not have killed anyone this time around but she had a few hundred years track record of murder and mayhem. Plus Belmonde was the creepy sort of corporate evil that made Carmilla look like an amateur.

When Mel signed the Summer Society up for vampire hunting duty (because they weren't going to sit by and let the Zeta's be in charge of “defending the campus hotties”) Danny went along with it too. She needed something to fill her time with now that she's not needed on the Board anymore and she was never against stopping predators on campus be they figurative or literal.

At the celebrations when Vordenberg had instated the Vampire Hunters as part of Silas Community Security Force he'd given all the Zeta's some sort of special brew. Some of the Summer Society girls had taken it too but Danny declined. She was having enough trouble trying to keep her thoughts straight what with the intruding visions of slaughtered classmates every few minutes. She didn't need to be adding illicit substances into the mix too, although considering how pumped it appeared to have made the others she hadn't ruled it out completely.

Laura wasn't taking this well.

She was reeling from the sudden change of fortunate and Danny was trying not to be too harsh on her because she was still a little emotionally fragile right now. The signs indicating that the Baron wasn't Team Vampire's biggest fan had been there all along and Danny was surprised Laura had missed it. In her darker moments Danny thought Laura was someday going to have to wake up and realise the world didn't change and become a better place just because you tried really hard. Not on this campus at any rate.

Carmilla wasn't helping matters either. She'd teamed up with Belmonde and the two had basically declared war on the University. They'd taken to terrorising the campus at night and snacking on students whenever they wanted proving at every turn that the Baron was right about the threats to the human students of Silas.

The death toll was rising.

–

She heard a crack and spun around raising her bow and pulling the string taut. Something stumbled out of the undergrowth ahead.

Danny didn't blink as she suddenly found herself starring into the eyes of Belmonde. She was standing not more than a few feet away looking dishevelled and frantic; that combination was probably the most terrifying look Danny had ever seen on the ex-Board Chair's face. Her gaze was drawn to the tip of Danny's arrow at which was aimed right at the heart of the body Belmonde was carrying.

Carmilla.

She didn't look good. Even for a dead girl. Blood seeped from below the arrow still lodged in her shoulder and her head lolled lifelessly. For an instance Danny saw everything in red monochrome and she tried not to gasp as she watched a trail of blood drip from Carmilla's mouth. Instead of an arrow wound there was a gaping hole in chest. Danny smelt decay and death.

Then she was back again. In the forest under a silvery moon like nothing had happened. Carmilla was still alive, barely, and it was an arrow she'd been shot with. The fletching was quite distinctive Danny recognised it instantly as one of Mel's. She'd be pissed she missed the heart.

“Lawrence.”

“Belmonde.”

They were hidden by the tree line from the other Summers and Zetas patrolling the school. The patrols were shouting commands to each other but their words were muffled and seemed to come from miles away. Even the Baron's Elite tended to avoid the forest when patrolling unless they absolutely had to. Too many people had gone missing here over the years that most of the student body avoided it; despite their outdoorsy nature the Summer Society only came here in groups. Except for Danny. The forest around Silas had always called to her. She'd never been particularly spiritual but it always felt special here. Hallowed. Sacred

“You loose that arrow and I'll snap your pretty little neck before you even have time to scream.”

Danny held perfectly still her back taut and the arrow's tip never waving, “It'll still hit her.”

“Doubtful sweetheart,” Belmonde scoffed but her hands grasped her sister tighter and there was an edge to her voice. So evil did have a softer side.

“You willing to take that risk?” Danny challenged. She's not sure what had possessed her to stand here trading quips with a centuries old murder machine but she felt strangely disconnected from everything. Like she's watching the scene play out on the reel of an old movie. She'd been getting that feeling a lot recently.

Carmilla groaned and her head rolled off Belmonde's shoulder. She looked even worse than she had after a week of starvation and interrogation and nearly as lifeless as when Danny had pulled her from the pit.

“She doesn't look too good.”

“No, really? I hadn't noticed what with your lunatic sorority sisters using us for target practice all night,” Belmonde all but hissed at her. Apparently worry over her sister was all that was needed to make Belmonde lose her Ice Queen façade. Any other night Danny would've flinched at the sight of her fangs.

“Well, maybe you should have accepted your defeat with grace and headed back to Morocco. I hear it's nice this time of year. Instead of, you know, deciding to slaughter the student body?”

“Please, get off your high horse before you give yourself a nosebleed. We haven't killed any of those walking blood bags you call students tonight. We were just having a little fun.”

There was something in the dismissive tone of Belmonde's voice that made Danny believe her. More than half the campus by now have seen the results of their latest ramapge but Danny can't recall them leaving anyone dead yet. Not that the body count wasn't rising anyway; there were more than enough vampires lurking about the campus since the Dean's absence to make up for Carmilla's new moral compass.

The wind shifted and pushed at Danny's back while she stood firm. Belmonde's nostrils flared and something changed about her demeanour. A knowing smirk was playing at the corners of her mouth and she was staring at Danny like she's worked out some great puzzle.

“And what about you Girl Scout? What have you been doing for fun recently?”

Danny didn't like the shift in the conversation. She'd prefer to go back to the death threats and posturing thank you very much. She was about to tell Belmonde to mind her own business when voices came from behind. From the sounds of it the other Vampire Hunters had decided to check out the forest's edge and were nearing fast.

Danny lowered her bow down finally easing the tension in her back and arms.

“You need to get her out of here now and hide.”

“What?” Belmonde obviously hadn't been expecting that. Though to be honest neither had Danny. She knew the pair of them had been attacking two Zetas (pledges, boys who hadn't even taken part in their first Goat Sacrifice yet) when they'd been shot. They were guilty as sin. But all Danny could see was flashes of a vast red plain and she knew, somehow she just knew, that this wasn't what was important right now.

There was something bigger at play that they weren't seeing in all this fog.

“You need to hide,” Danny repeated pointing behind them, “Go to Laura. There's too many Zetas and Summers patrolling the perimeter tonight – you'll never make it out of here alive with Carmilla slowing you down. Go to Laura's, she'll take you in.”

For a moment Belmonde looked at her in disbelief and distrust. Her mouth was actually hanging agape which Danny mentally chalked up to a point in her favour (the current tally was standing at Vampires: 45 Danny: 3) but there wasn't enough time to gloat.

“Double back through the woods, I'll lead them off your trail. Go. Now.”

Belmonde weighed her options silently. The voices behind them were getting clearer and the approaching torchlight flickered through the branches. There was an instance were Danny thought she'd made a huge mistake and she was actually going to wind up with her neck snapped but Belmonde was smart. She knew when to fight another day. With a nod she hefted Carmilla higher on her shoulder and then they are gone.

Elsie came crashing into the small clearing behind her. So much for the “Stealth and Safety while Hunting at night” training Danny had given them at the start of the semester, “Danny! Thank god, we've been calling you!”

Mel came to a stop behind her. She had an arrow notched in her bow and blood spattered across her shirt. The Baron's mark was clearly etched on her forehead and seemed to glow darkly. She looked dangerous and deadly; a Huntress in her element.

“Yeah Lawrence, I managed to hit one of the slaughter sisters – they were heading straight this way. Seen anything?”

Danny felt bile rising in her throat. She was about to lie to her sisters. Sure, any affection she felt for Mel had been quickly evaporating but Elsie was staring at her with wide and trusting eyes. When things went wrong Danny was who the girls looked up to. Because Danny Lawrence was steadfast and true. The same steadfast and true Danny Lawrence who was about to lie to them. Lie for a god damn vampire.

No. For god damn Carmilla.

Somewhere fate was cruelly laughing at her.

“I...uh, I -”

Kirsch chose that glorious moment to stumble into them. Danny had never felt relief at seeing Kirsch before and she hoped she never would again.

“Summer psychos! You need to come quick. The Zeta's have a nest of vamps cornered in our bottling room at the Xerses. They've started smashing the kegs – we need to save the beer!”

Mel looked incredulous and stabby, “The beer? You absolute cretin, who gives a -”

And Danny'd had enough of this, “Mel, shut up. Elsie, quick double back and round up the second phalanx. Kirsch, you're coming with Mel and I to the brewery.”

Mel opened her mouth as if she was about to argue, probably to remind her that after today's vote she wasn't president and now never will be. Thankfully before she could speak Elsie snapped to attention.

“Aye aye Cap'n!” Elsie winked giving a joking salute. Elsie turned away from the direction Belmonde and Carmilla had disappeared and sprinted off. Some of the girls were enjoying playing official monster hunters way too much; Danny preferred it when they were just unofficial protectors of the school.

And now she had Kirsch slapping her on the back like she'd just chugged a beer, “Awesome D-bear! Lead the way.”

She bite her tongue and refrained from correcting him. Instead she turned and lead them out of the woods. The light of the burning torches carried by students running in fear and excitement cast a strange twilight and for a second when she glanced up she almost swore the moon was red.

–

Danny was exhausted. She's been up all night leading the Vampire Hunting Parties trying to find Carmilla and Belmonde on a wild goose chase. All she wanted to do was sit down for just a minute. Or two. Or a million. But alas now she was supervising the construction of a stage for the Baron's rally tonight – he was making a big address to the students this evening in order to quell residual panic over the new regime change and squash some of the more disturbing rumours spreading. And since the last stage they'd built had been turned into kindling during the 'The Night the boilers finally gave out 2015' they had to build a new one. From scratch. In a day.

Luckily Vordenberg had appointed her as his right hand lieutenant in thanks for helping him win the debate so Danny was in more of an overseeing role instead of hauling large pieces of wood around so that left her with lots of time to worry about Laura's words from last night. Their conversation was playing on repeat in her mind.

Where things really getting better?

Honestly she didn't know. She looked around at the organised group of students and saw purpose where there had once been fear. Finally they had a goal something to unite the people and get them to work together. For once they had a leader that was standing up for them; no longer were minions of the night allowed to snack on humans and wreck havoc. The students of Silas were protecting themselves. And frankly after last semester and the horrors of the winter Danny was relieved someone else had a plan and was taking charge for a change.

While Danny wasn't 100% behind all of the Baron's decisions (the forehead markings were a bit cheesy) he seemed like he knew what he doing. He actually seemed to care about the students of Silas and their well being. And for that reason alone she was happy to help. It was nice to be part of a cohesive team again. Well semi-cohesive team she thought as she yelled at some of the Glee club members to stop harmonising and get off the structurally unsound rigging.

With the combined forces of the Summer Society, Zeta Omega Mu, the more physically able Alchemy nerds, and some ragtag volunteers from many of the now defunct sporting clubs they actually had a peace keeping force worth reckoning with. And after the last couple of nights Silas did indeed seem safer. Maulings were down, extra-dimensional vortexes were at at an all time low, and there were at least two new flavours of pie from the Dragon Ladies in the cafeteria.

The Baron had decreed that anyone not involved in Vampire Hunting and Extermination was to be inside after dark for their own protection which let the teams of Hunters roam freely without worrying about catching innocents in the cross fire. Well anyone except for the now increasing number of 'totally not mind controlled' students in robes who had taken to chanting in Sumerian around the pit. The Baron had decided to just leave that brand of crazy alone be for the meantime. They'd get to it once the blood sucking problem was dealt with.

Danny was all for protecting the student populace but she less keen with some of the Baron's other plans. Like ID badges for all non-human students (which was actually quite a large percentage it turned out) or the way they were being 'encouraged' to relocate to the Shunned House on the western side of the school. The Baron insisted it was for their own protection in case they got caught in speciest backlash during this time of upheaval but seemed a little heavy handed to Danny. She'd tried to argue against it earlier but Mel, who was still suspicious of Danny since last night's encounter with Laura, had pulled the “Who was it exactly that climbed into the hole and saved the life of the undead fiend that's been snacking on co-eds?” card so Danny wasn't exactly winning many of these debates anymore.

What was she supposed to do? Sulk and moan that she wasn't getting her way? The way Danny figured it she could either sit back and whine ineffectually or she could roll up her sleeves and pitch in with the recovery efforts. The Baron might not be a saint but at least he was trying. That had to mean something.

Dark clouds gathered overhead and Danny ducked under an awning as blood began to rain from the sky. It had been doing that on and off all day; another thing to add to Danny's ever growing list of things that made her uneasy. She watched as some of the more amphibious members of the Swim Team hurried to get their bags into the Shunned House to avoid the splatter. She watched them move past the line of Vampire Hunters eyeing them warily and tried to ignore the bad taste in her mouth.

Maybe Laura had a point.

–

Well damn.

Yes. Turned out Laura did indeed have a point about the Baron after all.

The Baron's rally, which had started out great with lots of cheering and solidarity, had ended with a gauntlet being thrown down and a small scale riot.

After a couple of rousing speeches about extra funding for student facilities including extended opening hours for the student medical centre and a wider selection of food in the cafeteria, an extension to all midterm deadlines, and a plan to relocate the Library to this dimensional sphere the Baron had started onto his main agenda for the evening. That being primarily that the non-human students of Silas, now all happily secured in the Shunned House thanks to the relocation efforts of his teams of Vampire Hunters, were actually to be held as hostages until the traitors harbouring the Countess Karnstein and her nefarious sister came forward. Said undead fiends would then be summarily executed and the traitors dealt with. Harshly.

Well fuck.

Danny really should've seen that one coming.

There'd been panic from the students, now trapped, in the Shunned House with lots of shoving and harsh words. The Baron quickly responded to the hints of rebellion with a legion of his Vampire Hunters who quickly raced to form a defensive line. Danny could hardly believe how fast and strong some of the new recruits were. She was certain she recognised one of the guys (Chad maybe?) from the gym and he hadn't been able to manage one press up last month; now here he was pinning a large sasquatch-esque Econ. Major to the ground after he tried to escape.

Maybe there was more to the Baron's special brew than just hops and barley.

The student cried out in pain and seemed to be struggled to breath. Danny yelled at maybe-Chad to stand down but he didn't seem to hear her. His eyes had been bugging out of his skull and his veins bulged as he slammed the student against the ground. Danny sprinted across the courtyard and tackled him. That's when the melee had broken out as the students in the Shunned House tried to rush the line of Vampire Hunters.

Chaos ensued.

Danny was caught in the middle of it trying to stand between the hulked out Vampire Hunters and the enraged students behind her. Her fists were flying and she managed to grab a trash can lid to use as a shield to push the crowd back. Some of the Summer Society saw what she was doing and copied it. Together they managed to push the warring groups apart and then the less tripped out on steroids Vampire Hunters had managed to restore order. At the Baron's command the students were pushed back into the Shunned House for their own 'protection'.

Danny, now with a bust lip and some bruised knuckles to go along with her splitting headache, had tried to protest his orders but she was overruled by Mel. Some of the younger girls looked uneasy at ignoring her but they followed Vordenberg's orders anyway. The rally had been brought to a close after that; the humans students were dismissed back to their dorms before curfew and a large number of patrols were sent out into the night to hunt for undesirables.

Danny was sent home with an ice pack and an ultimatum. Fall in line or else.

–

She was on her way back to the Lodge when she came across LaFontaine scavenging supplies out of the ruins of the library. They seemed agitated and unhappy.

There was no love lost between the two of them but Danny respected LaFontaine's cool objectivity. In the face of any monstrous situation they could be relied upon to respond with a wry detachment and requests to take samples. Or dissect things. But tonight something was off. Danny couldn't recall a time when she'd seen LaFontaine look so grim and serious. They weren't even paying attention when Danny approached them.

Unwilling acquaintances or not, Danny felt she should at least give them a heads up about the squads of Hunters scheduled to head this way in half an hour. It seemed like the decent thing to do. Danny called their name several times but LaFontaine barely acknowledged Danny presence and continued to search. She yelled again but to no avail.

Screw it.

Her head was sore. Her feet were killing her. And bed was close at hand. Laura's stupid friends could fend for themselves against Vordenberg's squads for all she cared. She was done.

Danny had started to head home when LaFontaine had cried out in triumph behind her pulling something from the rubble. They'd ran up to her brandishing some old parchment and dragged her back to Laura's. She didn't really have much choice in the matter. On the way there Danny found out she was being left out of the loop. Again. Apparently Laura had seen the seen the uploaded footage of the riots tonight. And she'd come up with a plan. Or was trying to.

A plan that LaFontaine was not at all pleased with if the way they were muttering about love struck idiots under their breathe as they lead the way back to the Dean's house was any indication. In fact Danny had a suspicion LaFontaine was only telling Danny about Laura's plan at all because they disagreed with it and suspected she would too (they were right of course but that was besides the point).

Really she needed to stop being surprised that Laura wasn't telling her things. Laura never told her anything until it was too late and she needed someone to pull her out of the fire. This shouldn't be new to her but it still stung a bit. Less that it had in times past. More than once on their journey Danny was sorely tempted to just pretend she hadn't seen LaFontaine at all and go home.

But alas.

“Honestly, I don't know how you idiot children didn't see this happening. The man has a vendetta against vampires, what did you think would happen?”

“Mattie, please. Laura was just -”

“You stay quiet. Quite frankly, dear, it was your ridiculous infatuation that got us into this whole mess in the first place if Maman were still alive -”

Danny rubbed her temples and tried to ignore the bickering vampires. She should have just let Mel stake them both. It would've made her life a lot simpler. And quieter. She'd probably be in bed by now too. She took another gulp of lukewarm coffee Perry had forced upon her when she arrived and tried to remember why she'd even bothered to come.

Laura had had enough as well and slammed a large book down on the table, “Carm. Mattie. Just shut up for five minutes. The Baron has those students hostage and we need to rescue them.”

“Well. We know what he wants. Why don't we just give it to him?” asked Perry, who was standing nervously in the corner behind LaFontaine.

From what Danny could see the two of them seemed back on friendly terms; they must have worked out whatever drama they'd being having since JP had been reanimated in Will's undead body. Or maybe their reunion had something to do with the new bandage around her neck that Perry was fidgeting with and her unnatural pallor. Danny was trying her best not to ask about that. She didn't think she'd like the answer.

Two vampires and an angry aspiring journalist rounded on Perry

“What?!”

Perry shot terrified glances at Belmonde shrinking behind LaFontaine's chair before she determinedly looked back at Laura with an unhinged gleam in her eye, “He wants them right? Why are we protecting them? They're murderers. Give them up and he'll let everyone else go, and we can all go back to our old lives.”

All of tonight had been kind of like watching a car crash in slow motion. As an outsider Danny couldn't help but be fascinated watching the groups unravelled at the seams. Whatever she had missed must have been major because everyone was at each others throats.

“Perry, we can't just turn them in. LaF come on, back me up here.” Laura begged.

LaFontaine was sitting with their arms crossed and a steely expression, “Forgive me L. for not being sympathetic to someone who tried to rip out the throat of my oldest friend.”

Ah. So something had gone down. It hadn't even been twenty four hours yet since Danny had left the house but it seemed that that was more than enough time for attempted murder.

“Look Laura, I like you I really do. But this isn't kiddie hour anymore. She -” they pointed accusingly at Belmonde “almost killed Per last night and in case you forget she tried to choke you to death too. Will you drop the rose tinted specs for five minutes and look at what's going on?”

Laura clenched her fists angrily and tried to interject but LaFontaine wasn't done. Pulling out the parchment from the Library they flattened it onto the table in front of them, “Plus we have bigger fish to fry. I don't like to point out the glaringly obvious but someone besides me has to have noticed the whole end of the world thing going on out there.”

End of the world? What? Danny turned to look.

At the stunned silence that followed LaFontaine seemed even more riled up. They stood up and pointed to the parchment on the table.

“No? Are you kidding me? None of you have noticed the weather forecasts now include chances of bloodrain? Or the mysterious Latin being carved into people's flesh? The moon changing colour? Weird ass dreams? I can't be the only one who's noticed!” they gesticulated angrily “Vast unending planes? Alien geometeries? Large shadow monsters that try to eat you? Maybe you would've noticed that the whole schools gone to hell if you took your heads out of your collective asses for one freaking second!”

They slammed their hands onto the table top in front of them scattering books and pages. A glass rolled off and smashed onto the ground. There was stunned silence. Danny looked at the others. Everyone was avoiding each others eyes. Maybe it hadn't just been her outside the loop. Maybe everyone had been keeping secrets from each other.

At least she wasn't just losing her mind. That was always a plus.

“No.”

The room turned to face Perry, who was shaking her head.

“No. This is not happening. It's just stress, right? Right? Because I killed that Will guy last year, and then found those kids bodies, and then vampires have tried to kill me. Twice. And now I'm having strange hallucinations of you all dying but it's just stress? PTSD? It is not the Apocalypse.”

LaFontaine tried calm her, “Oh come on Per, even you -”

“NO!” Perry drew away, “No, Lafontine. No. I will not stand here and discuss the end of the world with you like we're talking about what to watch on Netflix tonight. This is it. I'm not doing this anymore.”

“Perry wait -” LaFontaine tried to reach for her but Perry stormed past and fled out the door.

“Thank god, I thought she would never shut up.”

“Fuck you,” LaFontaine spat and lunged forward. Danny barely managed to grab them in time to stop them rushing at Belmonde. They tried to fight her off, but after a brief struggle gave up and slumped back down in their chair. Across the room Belmonde barley batted an eyelid instead inspecting her drink in one hand and toying with a locket around her neck in the other. Carmilla sat rather subdued on the armrest of her chair.

“Mattie, please. Just tell us what you know,” Laura begged. She seemed at her wits end. The last time Danny had seen Laura this distressed was after they had got back to her dorm room after the fight with the Dean. Danny didn't really like the reminder.

Belmonde rolled her eyes like this was a chore.

“Like I was saying before. This all wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't killed Maman. She rather enjoyed being top dog in this plane of existence; she had no more wish to bring that creature to this world than you miscreants do. Post-apocalyptic sheik was so last year, don't you think? It was your mess that I was trying to sort out before you decided to usurp me. I was trying to prvent the Lophiiformes from opening the Final Seal and manifesting fully on this plane. I can promise you, a few missing organs here and there is much preferably to clawing your own eyes out from insanity.”

“But now thanks to you those cultists grow in number every day, the dear Baron's pursing his speciesist agenda with glee, and a bunch of gung-ho idiot's decided to piss off the only deity left protecting this god forsaken school. And all the while I'm stuck in this horribly decorated backwater with my lovestruck sister explaining my motives to what should've been lunch.”

“Well I'm sorry. Maybe if you had just explained what was going on, instead of acting all 'Wicked Witch of the West' we could've helped you,” Laura yelled looking at the end of her tether.

“It doesn't matter anymore now, does it sweetcheeks?” Belmonde stopped to sip more blood out of her martini glass. Carmilla looked contrite beside her.

“Well then, tell us.” Laura demanded, “What can we do to stop it?”

“Stop it? Oh child please. You can't stop it. All you can do is hope to flee far enough to survive it.”

–

“Ms. Lawrence? Excuse me, Ms. Lawrence?”

It took her a second to to realise JP was still standing beside her and had been waving a hand in front of her face. After Belmonde dropped her little exposition bomb things went even more to hell. Carmilla had to wrestle Belmonde away from LaFontaine after they tried to swing for her again. And now LaFontaine and Laura were yelling at each other in the next room. Perry had reappeared ten minutes ago to scream at the two of them about how they were both idiots and was now banging pots around in the kitchen. Belmonde, after peeling Carmilla's fingers easily off her arms, had declared them all childish imbeciles and retreated to the upstairs bedroom to plot the Baron's gruesome demise. Carmilla had vanished to god knows where.

Which left Danny sitting alone on the sofa. Or so she had thought until she realised JP was there as well. She still wasn't quite use to seeing him being an actual person yet and not a USB stick. Although the fact that this concept hasn't send her bonkers like it had Perry probably said a lot more about her than she'd like to admit. Still he was the only one who seemed to remember she was here.

“JP, please, it's just Danny.”

He bowed his head a little and shuffled from one foot to the other, “I didn't want to presume and overstep. I just wanted to inquire about your state of well being.”

Danny looked up at him. She was wearing the same clothes from last night, her lip was still swollen from being head butted by an angry frat boy, and there was dried blood across her knuckles. She couldn't recall when she'd last had a full nights sleep (October maybe?) and she hadn't had a decent meal in days. She was pretty sure she looked exactly how she felt “You want to know how I am?”

“Well yes. I would like to enquire about your general physical and mental health.” he wrung his hands together a little, “You see I'm rather unused to having mortal companions again and I'm trying to 'Just act normal' as Ms. Lola asks. I believe that entails looking out for other another.”

“Don't worry about it JP. I'm not exactly a starring member of this little Scooby Gang. I don't think anyone will mind if we skip the social niceties.”

JP looked uncomfortable, and slightly confused at her pop culture reference. He picked awkwardly at his sleeve for a second and then gestured at the space on the sofa beside her, asking to sit. Danny nodded. It was a free country. Probably.

“My apologies; I don't mean to intrude upon your solitude. But I also wanted to extend my gratitude towards you for continuing to protect me from the Baron's Hunting parties, especially given my current tendency towards vampirism ever since my resurrection.”

“It's not a big deal JP, you don't have to thank me.”

“Even still, you have it.” he touched her lightly on the arm. “And also I wanted to ask about your well being because there seems to be something...troubling about you.”

There was something slight odd in the way he phrased that question that perked Danny's ears. She raised an eyebrow questioningly. JP seemed flustered again.

“Oh dear, I'm going about this all wrong. I meant no offence but you seem different lately. When I first awoke in this body everything was very bright; there were lots of colours and interesting smells sensations I hadn't felt in years. It was very overwhelming and it was nearly blinding to look at you. But in recent days you seem muted. Pale. Like a shade.”

Danny felt a bit uneasy. There was something about the way JP was talking that made her think he wasn't taking about her physical appearance at all. She brushed it off.

“I'm just tired JP. I've had a lot on my plate recently with everything last semester and now with the Baron's Hunting parties. Plus even if I lost the election there's still the girls back at the Summer Society I worry about.”

He nodded sympathetically, “Yes quite. That does sounds like a handful.”

“Did you know my sister was once a member of your sisterhood?” A wistful tone entered his voice, “It was a much smaller group then than it is today, the establishment wasn't very keen on it if I recall correctly. Gave young woman 'notions'. She had just applied to join when I started my investigations and she was ever so excited. I was taken by the library before I ever found out if she made it in. The records from those years were lost in the fire. I never found out what happened to her.”

He drifted off and stared into the middle distance still lost in the memory. He looked impossibly young; another life swallowed by the darkness of Silas University. Another person left behind and forgotten. Danny rested her hand on JP's shoulder and brought him back.

“I beg your pardon once again, Danny. I must have drifted off there.” he smiled sheepishly. It didn't reach his eyes, “Yes. It seemed a bit of a silly notion to me; a bunch of girls playing in the woods trying to curry petty favour with ancient goddesses? At the time I had much more pressing matters to attend to but after everything that's happened... well maybe, given the current circumstances we find ourselves in, maybe it wouldn't hurt to have all the help we can get?”

Danny managed to match his weak smile as she pondered his words. They sat in companionable silence.

The yelling in the next room continued.

–

Well damn.

Carmilla had actually done it.

Danny was still in shock.

After she had headed home, in desperate need of a hot shower and a change of clothes, the arguing had continued late into the night. Things were said. Doors were slammed. Curses shouted at one another. They'd all gone to bed angry. But not for long.

Everyone on campus had been awoken in the night by the events at the pit. First the cultists went into a frenzy babbling in Latin and clawing at their own skin. Then the fireballs came, as big as tennis balls, raining down from the skin wrecking havoc to the structural integrity of campus. Finally with an almighty rumble the pit shook and the glowing light of the Angler Fish God disappeared.

Danny had arrived at the pit out of breath, half awake and half dressed, having been harshly roused from another corpse filled nightmare. By the time she arrived some of the Summer Society sisters had already battled their way through over the writhing bodies of cultists and reported back that the Angler Fish God appeared to have retreated inside the Earth. But there wasn't much cause for celebrations. The girls said they could still hear something down there though. Something that sounded big. And angry.

It had taken over an hour to reassure the gawking crowd of students and get everyone back to bed. Except the cultists who refused to be moved from the pit. Danny had told the girls to give up trying to move them after the cultists started to foam at the mouth.

No one got much rest after that.

In the morning when Perry had gone to open the curtains in the drawing room she noticed Carmilla wasn't there. Neither were her boots or leather jacket. A search of the house didn't find the vampire anywhere. All it turned up was an envelope with Laura's name written in cursive on the front. In the commotion no one had noticed a lone vampire slinking off in the darkness.

Seemed like Laura's notions of heroism and self sacrificed had rubbed off on the vampire after all.

Carmilla had turned herself in.

–

Danny stood at a crossroads.

No literally. She was standing right at one.

On her left was the path that lead to the Dean's House. Where Laura and the others were waiting for her. They'd banded together again and Laura had a plan. Well, that was if a hastily cobbled together set of what-ifs and as-long-as's could be considered a plan. They were going to sneak into the Shunned House and rescue Carmilla tonight because if they didn't then the Baron was going to execute her come day break. They had one shot and if they failed that was it. Another life lost in Silas's most current civil war.

Danny bite her lip and looked down the left path. If they failed Laura wouldn't be able to take it. Carmilla's death the first time had nearly destroyed her. If it happened again because her plan failed Laura would never forgiven herself. Danny didn't think she'd ever recover.

The other path lead to the centre of campus where the pit was. As LaFontaine had keenly pointed out yesterday; something world destroyingly freaky was happening and after last night crap finally seemed to have hit the fan. With the retreat of Lophiiformes deep into the Earth things were escalating. Dead animals were falling from the sky. Spontaneous combustions were occurring at record rates. Plagues of locusts and water turning into blood. This was the whole nine yards. Everything was spelling imminent doom.

Someone had to stop it. And fast. Or else it wouldn't just be one vampire dead tonight.

There was a bigger picture to look at. One Laura was too blinded by love to see.

Laura had asked her to come tonight. Well actually she hadn't asked. The text simply read 'Dean's House. Midnight. Bring weapons.' Laura probably wasn't expecting a reply. She just expected Danny would be there. Because that's what Danny did. When the chips were down Danny would always turn up. If Laura asked Danny always come. But, she thought looking down the other path, what if she didn't?

That would probably be it between them. Whatever fragile friendship Danny was hoping they could carve from their almost romance would be over. Danny could imagine the hurt and disappointment on Laura's face when she realised Danny wasn't coming. She hated disappointing Laura. And what would happen when Laura went ahead with her plan? What if she got in trouble? What if she needed saving? What if she got hurt?

Danny would never forgive herself.

But if someone else got hurt because Danny chose Laura over them? She wouldn't be able to forgive herself for that either.

Hence the crossroads.

She would've laughed at the clichéd symbolism of it all if she wasn't stuck in this metaphorical nightmare.

The Lodge had been empty when she left it. Mel had postponed her disciplinary hearing until the current situation was over although Natalie reassured her that her actions with the crowd last night stood her in good favour. The rest of the girls were all at the Shunned House with the Zeta Bros and others of Vordenberg's Hunting squads. They were standing guard over Carmilla until morning since Vordenberg turned out not to be as dumb as he'd let on and had doubled the guard duty. At least that had meant there was no one around to question her when Danny took a large sword from the armoury and left.

The campus was eerily empty for the late afternoon as she made her away across it. Normally at this hour it would've be bustling with students walking back to their dorms or playing ultimate Frisbee or trying to develop their latent telekinesis. It should've been filled with people doing any of the hundred things that made up everyday life here. It was easy to forget sometimes that this was a huge campus and hundreds of students lived here. Seeing it so empty drove the point home for Danny.

There were still a few stragglers lurking uneasily between buildings. They looked for the most part bedraggled and harried. They might not know everything that was going on but anyone could sense something bad was happening. And they were scared. Watching them dodge the swarms of buzzing insects Danny remembered what it was like to be lost and scared. She knew what it was like to be forgotten about and left behind.

Danny knew what choice she had to make.

She pulled out her phone and replied 'I can't. Sorry.'

And headed towards the pit.

–

She'd decided to cut through the woods to get to the centre of campus. It should've been quicker. But she'd gotten turned around somehow.

The sun still set quickly at this time of the year and Danny was surprised to find herself lost. She stumbled upon a small grove that she'd never found before which was unusual given how much she'd explored these woods. She looked up at an alien sky and tried to get her bearings but it was no use; there were new constellations that she didn't recognise scattered across the heavens.

But she didn't feel worried. If anything she felt safe here. Warm and at home. She was so intent watching the stars that she didn't hear anyone approach her. But slowly she became aware that she was not alone. Someone was with her.

Danny looked to the side and saw her. Watching from behind a mighty oak was a woman. With dark hair and dark eyes Danny recognised her immediately as the woman from years ago that she'd met at the Adonis Festival. Funny that felt like a lifetime ago.

“It's you,” Danny stated dumbly.

The woman walked forward and stood beside her. She looked up at the moon; her pale skin was stained crimson in the unearthly light. Looking at her bathed in moonlight Danny suddenly knew who she was. What she was.

“Dark things are at work tonight,” the woman mused.

Danny shrugged a shoulder, “It's the end of the world.”

The woman nodded once in agreement and continued to stare up at the stars.

“You stopped my Hunt. Without it my protection over this area is stretched thing.”

“Protection?!” Danny asked incredulously, “This the protection that's been letting innocent girls die every 20 years? The same great protection that hasn't stopped whatever that thing in the pit is from coming to eat us all?”

The woman broke her gaze from the stars. Her mouth was a thin line and her jaw clenched tightly as she turned on Danny.

“Do not have the hubris to think you can even begin to comprehend what forces are at play here tonight, mortal. This is a tale that has spanned epochs of which your era is barely a footnote. My protection was the only reason this insignificant place you call home still stands at all.”

Danny staggered backwards from the force of her words. The woman hadn't raised her voice but Danny cringed away. That same feeling of being very small and insignificant she had experienced those years ago drowned her. She suddenly felt the emotional toil of hundreds of years of slaughter and bloodshed hit into her at once. Forces beyond her ken were at work battling for supremacy. Forces that would swallow her whole.

Danny trembled.

In the silence Danny contemplated the woman's words and then with a sinking realisation Danny put the pieces together. The only ancient ritual she could recall recently was the one she herself had stopped. It was all her fault. She'd been the one who denied a patron goddess her power and broken the protection cast on this land.

God, what had she done?

“I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't know. I just...” Danny spluttered but the woman didn't look interested in excuses. Danny paused and took a deep breath.

“How can I fix things?”

The woman's eyes were at once no longer terrifying but filled with compassion. The wealth of an infinite being's understanding and acceptance. It was overwhelming. She smiled sadly at Danny.

“You already know the answer to that.”

Danny begged to disagree and shook her head in confusion. The woman reached forward and touched her lightly on the arm.

Her words were steady and clear, “Nothing in this world is given by chance, child. It must be earned. Great deeds demand sacrifice.”

It slowly dawned on her and looking back on it she knew she had sealed her fate the moment she'd stopped that arrow flying. Danny felt sick.

“No.” she pulled back trying to get away. She had to get out of the clearing. She had to get anywhere. Anywhere but here. “I didn't know.”

She stumbled backwards but didn't manage to make it far before she lost her footing and slipped slamming hard into a tree behind her. She turned frantically back to the other woman begging her for another answer.

“I didn't know. When I stopped the Hunt. I didn't-I... that's not fair.”

The woman didn't say anything and gave her a second to calm her panicked breathing. Danny tried to slow her racing heart. Then like she was approaching a startled animal the woman drew close to Danny again. With steady patience of a teacher to a young child the woman spoke,

“If you had known would it have changed what you did?”

Danny wanted to say yes. She wanted to fill her lungs and scream. She'd take it all back. Everything. Everything she'd ever done. She wanted to say that she'd have let Kirsch die. She wanted to be angry and scared and selfish. She wanted to say that he could take her place instead. That she would let anyone take her place. Kirsch. Carmilla. Laura. Anyone. Anyone but her.

She couldn't.

Because it would be a lie.

The woman reached out and cupped her cheek. Her soft touch was as searing as Danny remembered and she tried to hide from it, “I told you before Danny Lawrence, you will do great things.”

“But I'm just a girl.”

Danny crumbled into herself and whispered.

“I don't want to die”

The woman drew Danny into her arms and for the first time since she was a child Danny broke down and cried.

–

Danny honestly didn't know she'd expected on a suicide mission to slay an ancient evil. She'd studied a bit of Classics and enough Heroic poetry that she half expected some ancient poet or muse to come greet her because that's just the way these sort of things went. But instead it's just her with a sword in her hand making her way across a deserted Silas Quad.

The moon – that not even the Silas University Twitter feed could deny was now blood red – was hanging low in the sky and casting everything in a Tarantino-esque twilight.

She ignored the crowd of cultists standing in eerie silent at the edge of the pit. They were all swaying in unison eyes glassy and vacantly staring ahead looking straight through Danny like she wasn't there but at least they didn't try to stop her as she vaulted over the barriers of biohazard tape surrounding the perimeter and peered down into the deep cavern. There was no sign of the monstrous Angler Fish God anymore but deep down in the depths she could almost swear she saw something flickering. It seemed to be a long way down. The distance gave her vertigo and she pulled back.

What the fuck was she thinking?

Uninspiring pep talks from ancient deities aside. She couldn't do this. She turned away from the pit.

Then Danny noticed behind the crowd a tall figure was waving at her. And yelling.

“D-Bear!”

Oh great. It was Kirsch.

Even from this distance Danny could see his whole face light up when she looked at him and then he raced towards her leaving cultists falling over in his wake. He must be on his way to Laura's, Danny figured, seeing as he was heading in the opposite direction of the Shunned House carrying his Zeta issue trident in one hand and a net across his back. Danny was truly amazed he hadn't gotten himself tangled in it yet. He jogged to a stop and held up his hand for a high five which Danny blatantly ignored. It did nothing to diminish his enthusiasm.

“Kirsch, what are you doing here?”

“Little nerd -” Danny glared, “I mean Laura, she called me. Said something big's going down. I was like 'yeah man, the sky's gone all red and the last batch of home-brew turned to blood overnight. Something is seriously wrong.' But Laura was all like, 'Dude, we have to save Carmilla.' And even though she's kind of a terrifying vampire hottie she did totally save us last year so I was like, 'Sure Laura, I'll help out.' She told me not to get tell the other Bros though cause it's like a surprise plan. But it's cool, 'cause Laura says Laf and Perry are gonna come, plus that wicked hot Board chair lady. And you. You're coming too right?”

Danny was so amazed he managed to get that out in one breathe she almost didn't pick up on what he was saying. Then that feeling of sinking lead returned to her stomach. Danny looked away, “Actually I'm not. I've got something else I have to do tonight.”

Kirsch stared at her bewildered. Danny wasn't surprised at his reaction really because any other time Laura had ever called her Danny had came running. There was more than enough video evidence to prove that was the case. But Danny had starting to realise something. Laura was just one person. Yes she was special to a lot of people. But Silas? It's students? They were lots of people special to someone too. And right now they had no one.

“Well, don't sweat it. I'll come with and help you out. Hey, cool sword. Is it magic?” he reached out to grab the sword hanging from Danny's belt.

She swatted his hands away, “No Kirsch, it's not a magic sword. It's just a sword. You know what - it doesn't matter. And no -”

“D-bear, don't worry!” he interrupted throwing an arm around her shoulders and trying to lead her away from the pit, “Magic sword or no; it'll be a blast. You and me. Bromeo and Juliet. We can go save the hotties, then we can grab a few brews and -”

Angrily she pushed his arm off and stepped back.

“Kirsch get off me. I'm not coming with you. I've got stuff to do.” she poked him in the chest, hard to make her point. “Alone.”

Kirsch looked downright offended at her suggestion, “Dude, Bros don't leave Bros to face scary stuff alone. Even honoury Bros. It's like the first rule of Zeta Omega Mu.”

Danny rolled her eyes exasperated, “I thought first rule was 'If there's a hottie we'll be on her.'”

Kirsch had to pause for a bit to think that one through, “Well the other first rule. Like the more important first rule.” He seemed nearly confident with his answer.

Danny ran her hand through her hair and sighed deeply. This was not what she needed right now. Those new stars were aligning themselves into a very straight line and she could swear she was beginning to make sense of the ominous chanting around them.

“Kirsch no means no. This is just something I have to do real quick.”

He looked like he was about to argue again. Danny poked him in the chest again. “Alone. You need to go help Laura with her plan before it's too late, it's nearly midnight.”

That did the trick. Kirsch pulled out his phone looked at it and then slammed the palm of his hand into his forehead, “Aw, man. I totally forgot the time.”

“Exactly. You have to go NOW and help Laura. She's got a stupid plan that she's going to need saving from and I can't – I've...” Danny trailed off. She faltered.

She'd had so many plans.

For this semester. For the years ahead. She wanted to go hiking in the mountains on her spring break. And take part in the Summer Society's end of year athletics competition. Hell, she even planned to go to the Zeta's Homecoming Goat Party. And next year she was going to graduate. And then she was going to travel. She wanted to see the lights of the Eternal city and walk between the columns of the Parthenon. There were books she'd meant to read and novels she'd meant to write. She had things to do. Places to see. People to meet.

She'd wanted to fall in love again. Given enough time she thinks she probably could once her heart had healed a bit. She could meet a nice girl, fiercely passionate and intelligent, who would made her laugh and didn't mind her overprotective streak. And she wanted to be able to ask advice off Laura because she thinks they could go back to being friends; real friends this time. It was so easy to be friends with someone like Laura.

Kirsch looks puzzled at her silence, “D-bear– are you okay?”

“I'm fine – I'm...”

God she didn't want to do this. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't she just follow Kirsch and go rescue Laura and her stupid vampire? The world's managed to survive this far without her input. It could surely weather this too.

Then she looked at Kirsch. He smiled widely at her again looking at her like she had all the answers. His absolute trust in her was absolute just like it had been after she'd saved his life from Will and from Mel. He truly believed that Danny being there meant everything was going to be okay. That Danny Lawrence alone was enough to make everything all right.

Danny couldn't help it. She just needed this moment of weakness. She hugged him.

Kirsch was stunned. Then he wrapped his arms around her in return. It was a bit awkward and slightly uncomfortable. But she laughed when he pounded her on the back careful not to hit her with his trident. She clutched him tightly for a few seconds taking note of the smell of stale beer and salted herring.

“You're a good guy when you try, Kirsch,” she mumbled into his chest before breaking the hug, “Take care of Laura for me. Take care of all of them.”

He grinned at her again but this one didn't quite reach his eyes. Danny didn't think he'd try to stop her this time.

“No probs D-Be... Danny. No probs, Danny,” he turned taking a few steps back and then paused. “I'll see you later right?”

She pulled her non-magical sword from its scabbard. The edge was sharp and deadly. Its weight heavy and solid in her hand.

“Bye Kirsch.”

He raised his trident in salute then nimbly started making his way across the green; it looked like he was getting a kick out of knocking over cultists and jumping over craters left from this morning's hailstorm of fire.

Once he was out of sight Danny steeled herself. She moved to the edge of the pit and looked down.

And then she descended.

–

She should have paid more attention to her 'Intro to Eldritch Abominations 101' classes Danny thought as she went further and further down. After climbing for what felt like hours she noted the things were getting weirder and weirder.

First despite the fact that she was going deeper and deeper beneath the earth, the strange red moonlight seemed to always be enough to light the path ahead of her.

Second were the strange etchings and carvings on the walls. The further she went the more of them she started to notice. Now nearing the end they were a fresco covering the walls of the tunnels she was creeping down. She could make out enough of the iconographs in the gloom to make some sense of them; lots of little cultists, great big fish god, shadow monsters, human sacrifice, great big fish god eating world. She had to hand it to JP; it looked like his creepy drawing were right all along. Yay

Third were the bones. They had started a little further up. Shards and fragments initially. Indistinct enough that Danny could pretend they were animal remains. But as she went deeper she couldn't pretend anymore. Skulls and jaw bones cracked underneath her shoes and she kept loosing her footing. She'd nearly fallen more than once onto their jagged edges.

When she finally reached the bottom she found herself in the massive cavern from JP's drawing. It was huge. Like uncomfortably huge. Like shouldn't logically fit in this space huge. Love child of Etcher and H.R. Giger alien geometry huge. Even looking around at it was making Danny feel queasy.

There were strange marks on the flattened ground. Unusual sigils were etched into the floor and spiralled outwards in all directions and that's when Danny realised too late that she had found the ancient demigod's altar. It was a bit bigger than she expected. She tried to stop her hands from shaking.

As she was trying to slow her heart rate down and calm her breathing she noticed something. Something is watching her from the darkness. Something old. And malevolent. And hungry.

She knew what it was without seeing. She'd felt this way before. It was the shadow monster from her dreams. The fearsome beast she never sees until it's too late. She stared across the vast waste trying to make it out from the silhouettes of the strange rock formations scattered around but she couldn't find it anywhere.

She also couldn't see any Angler Fish shapes either which was weird considering it had been fifty foot long the last time she'd seen it. She tried to peer harder into the cavern. When she had been above at the mouth of the pit she could've sworn she saw something moving down here. And the girls last night mentioned hearing something great moaning in the deep. But now that she was down here she couldn't see anything.

But then it was like Belmonde had said. The dark god didn't belong to this world. It was too preternaturally strange. It had been trapped here in inter-dimensional limbo and its reach had been severely limited. So it had been playing games with them. Psychic disturbances. Mind control. Weird dreams. It wasn't a creature of substance or logic. The Angler Fish wasn't its true form. It was a being of pure chaos. Of darkness. It could look like whatever it chose.

And that's when the darkness opened its eyes.

Danny could see the beast's outlined faintly by ethereal glow separating it from the shadows. It was like looking into a black hole; a space in reality that seemed to suck all light in. She tried not to stare for too long feeling herself getting mesmerised by it. So this was it. Lophiiformes: the ancient evil that had plagued this school. It couldn't materialise fully on this plane so this was how it chose to play its games. With a nightmare shadow beast of doom.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck

The shadows coalesced in front of her and Danny craned her neck to look up. The ancient demigod towered over her in a gigantic writhing mass of shifting limbs and snakelike tendrils. Then it struck.

She tried to dodge out of way of its limbs but it was too fast. Sharp claws raked down her back and Danny was knocked forward onto her knees. She bit back a scream.

Using her momentum she quickly rolled forward out of the way of another swipe and tried to regain her stance. She raised her sword and struck out wildly at the shadows surrounding her. But the beast's tendrils moved lightening fast; ducking and twisting out of her desperate swipes. Again and again she struck out at the swirling darkness but every time she missed.

In her frenzy she didn't even notice the tendril coming from above her.

Danny took the blow to the head and crumbled to the ground. Her sword went flying from her hand. Lost in the dark. Revelling in its triumph the beast rushed towards her.

She barely regained her senses enough to scramble out of its way. She crawled across the ground with the rough stones cutting like sand paper into her skin. Her head felt like it had been split open and blood rushed down her forehead. She blindly groped the ground around her trying to find her sword. From above came an awful screech and Danny jumped out of the way again.

The beast slammed its foot into the ground were she had been searching crushing the scattered stones under its weight and leaving an imprint of its foot in the bedrock. Danny watched frozen in terror for a moment before she pushed herself onto all fours and struggled across the ground. The beast drew back again and the red light from the moon filtered down. That's when Danny spotted it. There. Only a few feet away glinting in the shadows was her sword.

There was another shriek from above and the beast moved again. She dove forward and her fingers grasped her sword hilt. She rolled onto her back and swung blindly into the air. She felt the sword strike something solid. An inhuman squeal came from above and she could barely believe her luck. She'd injured it.

As it reared back Danny jumped up to her feet and tried to regain her balance. She prepared to move forward for another strike.

Before she could move though her leg was awash with blinding pain. She yelped in agony as she looked down. A black appendage she hadn't seen had wrapped itself around her thigh digging deep into her flesh. She reached down and tried to pull it off. She realised her mistake too late. As soon as her bare skin touched the cool wet surface thousands of glass needles were digging into her hand. Gritting her teeth she tried to pry the beast's barb off her leg.

She was so caught up trying to free her leg she wasn't paying attention to the rest of the beast. It swung again.

Claws sliced her other arm tearing through muscle and sinew. Danny screamed.

She twisted violently away and finally managed to pull her leg free from the beast. She turned around and tried to run for the tunnel exit. After a single step her leg buckled; it was in agony and she could barely put any weight on it. Somehow she could feel the beast grinning malevolently as it moved forward once more.

In the opposite direction, only a few yards away, she could see some scattered ruins. In a last ditch attempt she flung herself towards them barely dodging out of the way of the beast's next attack.

She scrambled backwards behind the rocks skinning her knees against the rough unnatural ground. Panting she tried to catch her breathe. The deep guttural roar from behind shook the ground and she curled into a tight ball. The entire cavern quaked with footsteps that were coming closer and closer. There was no where left to hide.

Wiping blood out of her eyes she caught her reflection on the swords blade. She hardly recognised herself: dirty, bloody, and more terrified than she'd ever been in her life. She could barely see straight, her head was throbbing, and the flesh on her arm was in ribbons.

What was she doing here? What the actual _fuck_ had she been thinking?

She was never supposed to be the protagonist of this tale; she was a bit part at best. She wasn't some heroic vampire with super speed and strength armed with a mystical sword of darkness, nor a gifted scientist who could come up with a million and one ways to slay a demigod. She wasn't even some plucky reporter with unending optimism and a plucky determination to never give up. Hell she couldn't even make brownies.

She wasn't anything like that. She was just Danny. That's all she was.

And then she realised. That was it. That explained everything.

Because ultimately where else would Danny Lawrence be at the end of the world but right here? Right in the middle of the fray sword in hand and not a hope in the world.

This was what she did. This was who she was.

She tightened the grip on her sword and stood ready to face her destiny.

It stood before her; monstrous and terrifying. It was blacker than the pit itself and it seemed to see right into her very soul but Danny had had enough of being scared tonight.

Think Danny. Think. It had to have a weakness somewhere. Its whole strategy was based around to keeping creatures at arms length. That had been its modus operandi from day one. Acting through secondaries and playing mind games from afar. Even down here it was constantly trying to keep Danny off her guard and out of reach. Like it didn't want her up close and personal.

Danny tried not to get distracted by the mass of limbs and started at its central bulk. Something there flickered.

It looked like a light.

The beast pulled a limb back and swung. Danny didn't move and met the blow head on. She felt sickening cracks as her ribs were broken and a sharp stabbing pain in her side that signaled serious injury but she ignored them. She was only going to get one shot at this. She couldn't fuck it up. The beast pulled her closer and she struggled to gasp as it wrapped its limb around her tighter; crushing her chest as it dragged her in.

Her body was on fire. Everything hurt. She could barely keep a grip of her sword.

Danny went limp in its grasp. She could feel its zeal and excitement. It squeezed tighter and pulled her in closer.

Danny waited until the last second. Yelling a mighty roar Danny pulled her sword up and slashed the beast across the centre. It dropped her immediately and Danny scrabbled back out of its reach.

It started screaming.

Danny clutched her head in her hands crouched in a ball and tried to block out the horrific sound. It was like the earth itself was being torn apart. The ancient evil jerked and thrashed madly in front of her while around them the cavern shook. The ground trembled and great boulders fell pelting the beast from above.

Danny was thrown from her feet by the force of the earthquakes and used her sword to steady herself. She could barely put weight on her injured leg and her shredded arm was doing very little to support her flailing rib cage. Every move hurt.

After what seemed like an age the beast's screaming stopped and it drew back.

And then she felt it. Fear.

Not her own for once but the deep primal terror of a being that had never known fear before. The fear of something immortal that is about to have its existence snuffed out.

Danny looked down. She was bleeding heavily and her blood was flowing in rivets down to the ground. It filled the carvings there and was spreading out around her. The strange moonlight was beginning to change colour; the eerie redness was finally fading and in its wake the natural silvery light had returned. It reflected off her blood lighting the symbols in the dark.

Danny knew why it had to be her here tonight. Why she was down here instead of anyone else.

Because this was a decision no one else could've made.

The others; they were heroes of a different tale tonight. Somewhere up there in the light Laura was saving the day, getting her girl and earning her happy ending. Brilliant Laura who always saw the best in the world. She wouldn't have accepted any solution where fatality was an option.

But down here. Alone. With the monsters. That wasn't how life worked.

Down here in the dark great deeds demanded sacrifice.

She turned to look at the beast. In the natural moonlight the strange ethereal glow that seemed to outline it against the black was fading by the second. It was getting smaller. She could taste its terror on the air crisp and sharp.

The beast prepared itself for another attack. It drew all its tendrils of shadow in coalescing again into a giant writhing mass. Through its shifting limbs Danny could see something in the centre where her sword had ripped a hole. Something bright and terrible that Danny felt inextricable drawn to. She couldn't think of any other way to describe it than as a void; a hole in reality itself. That was what the beast been trying to protect. That was where its power lay.

Danny allowed herself a wry smirk.

“You lose.”

She spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered to her feet once more. She lifted up her sword for the last time and held the hilt close into her body. The beast turned to face her and howled. It rushed towards her and Danny charged forward to meet it.

At the very last second she ducked. Its claws swept wildly over her head nearly catching her but it was too late. She was inside its guard now the bright void hanging in the space above her. With a yell she lunged up piercing the beast through its empty heart. It screeched again and Danny flinched as the ear splitting noise tore right into her soul. A howling wind racked her skin and made her eyes water as she struggled to watch. Her sword was stuck tight in the heart of the void and it was all she could do to hold on. Around her reality started tearing itself apart collapsing down to a point. The air was electrified and everything tasted of metal. Whatever this thing was it was being pulled asunder with Danny in the middle.

The darkness closed in around her. She pressed her free hand to her chest and it came away soaked in blood. She couldn't feel down her right side anymore. It hurt to breathe. She knew as soon as she took that wound that it was a killing blow. But then she'd known the outcome of this battle hours before when she'd sat in the forest taking comfort in the arms of an ancient goddess.

The swirling mass above her twisted wildly and her sword was nearly wrenched from her hand. Danny tightened her grip and stood taller despite the shadows that grew around her. Swallowing her. Consuming her.

As the storm raged around her she felt her life ebbing away. But she wasn't scared anymore. As she got weaker instead all she felt was a sense of completion; of harmony and balance restored.

For the first time in a long time Danny Lawrence felt at peace. She closed her eyes and she wasn't in the cavern anymore.

She was in a forest on a midwinter's night. There was paint on her face and flowers in her hair. Her head was full of wine and song and across the fire, if she opens her eyes, she knows there'll be a pretty girl watching her.

She's home.

Danny breathes a sigh of relief.

And let's go.


End file.
